The Gift of Friendship
by Ivory-Fire
Summary: Mush likes Blink. Blink likes Mush. Mush Plus Blink Equals..... A small ficlette for any Mush and Blink shipper!


A/N: Just a small Ficlett I wrote to get this account going. It's in Mush's PoV, and it's Slash (Mush/Blink). Rated PG 13 for content not words. Enjoy!  
  
The Gift of Friendship  
  
By The Great and Almighty Water Mage; Ivory-Fire  
  
  
  
When one guy kisses a girl, no one seems to mind. But when that kiss is planted on another guy... it's a whole different story. Yes, the rumours are true, and yes, I did kiss him. It was a small kiss though. But besides the fact that this... small kiss was against any parent's moral values, not to mention the church, I knew it was a sin to kiss another male. A simple sin. And yes, I had meant what I said, and yes, I knew it was wrong, but when you're in love and the one you dream about night after night is standing right in front of you, spilling his heartfelt of desires to and about you, what else are you supposed to do... walk away? Only a coward could do that. And I, Mush, was not a coward. Sweet and simple, possibly. Coward; no.   
  
Kid Blink was the sort of guy most people would rather avoid. If it weren't for his personality, I probably would have done the same. It's not like he's the worst looking guy, more like an ugly duckling. He's just... misunderstood, and out of place. The second he walked into the lodging house, clad in his shaggy vest and pants, and eye patch, my heart skipped a beat. He had this aura around him that shown like the summer sun in the middle of a dark and grey winter- not to mention that it WAS a dark and grey winter, extremely cold at that. As Kloppman walked down the rows of bunk beds in the main room, found an empty one, not far from mine- the empty bed right over Racetrack's.   
  
There's something you ought to know about Racetrack though. He's not the sort of guy who you can just waltz up to and start spreading' your optimistic attitude towards. Heck, even Jack Kelly had the full force blows when Race got here. But most of us have worked long and hard on the relationship, and most of us would have the sense to stay away from him in the kind of mood he was in. The poor chap had just lost all of his weeks savings in gambling, and he wasn't about to let no cheery kid annoy him. Most people would take one look at the scowl on his face and realize that this guy was in no mood to be bothered. I expected that this kid would do the same. Obviously I was wrong.   
  
"Hiya. I'm Kid Blink. I'm new here. I guess we're bedmate now, eh?" Wrong move. Smacking my head I watched as the Italian took a moment to process the words. Bed mates. Good Gawd, the kid has struck a nerve. No one, accept for Spot Conlon over in Brooklyn, in their right mind would call himself Race's "bed mate". Racetrack and Spot had this... this thing. They weren't together, but at the same time, they weren't apart. Every Saturday, Spot would travel across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan, to meet up with Race at Medda's- the new "dancer" in town. More like a whore in a stripper's clothes if you ask me. But all the same, I shivered as Racetrack's booming voice filled the room.  
  
"Bed mates... did I hear you correctly? Let's get one thing straight. I am not your bed mate. Got that Kid? Good. Now leave me alone." Ouch. Poor kid. But knowing me, all kind and gentle, had to get off the top bunk where I was lying peacefully, reading my "Les Miserables" book happily, and trod over to the poor boy, dragging him out into the hallway where only a few stragglers could hear.  
  
"Listen, I know you're new and all, so I'll give you the 4-1-1 on Racetrack. He's not the sort of person you want to shine you're radiant aura on. He's more of the work-your-way-up kind of guy. Okay?" Watching the boy nod, I smiled. "I'm Mush by the way." Extending my hand to his, I melted as he took it, shaking it vigorously. His touch set vibes down to my stomach. Some would call it a simple absent-minded crush. I would call it Love at First Sight. Indeed, the thing you only see happening in movies was invading my heart, ripping me apart. Right than in there, I wanted to implant my lips on his own.   
  
"I'm Kid Blink. And yea, I am new. You wouldn't mind showing me around would you? I don't want to get lost on the job of course." His voice was that of an angel. Tweaking my hand to follow me, his boyish figure trotted down the stairs. Humour reflected off of him, as well as his great personality. Unlike the other boys in my age group, I was not shallow. For, in 10 years or so, the hottest guys and girls may as well be the ugliest. I was the type who looked for his inner side, his flaming passion, his personality.   
  
I didn't say much on the short tour. I brought him around to a small park, much, much smaller than Central Park. I wanted to get to know this mysterious handsome. I wanted to learn what made him tick, if you could say that. Which wasn't that hard. The kid was just dying to open himself up to me.   
  
"I guess you could say I was... born and raised in a rich family. My dad was a lawyer; my mom was an actress. It was great, just me and my parents." The corners of his mouth were slowly lowering. Something had happened. There had to be a reason for him to be at the lodging house. I watched as the January winds blew around his pale face, etching the one visible blue eye. The dirty blond hair of his was matted under his cabby hat. He was an angel in disguise; a crystal with it's own beauty. The guy wasn't hot, nor was he cute. Kid Blink was Kid Blink, nothing more to that. I kicked at the small pile of snow near the corner of the bench and sighed.  
  
"So what happened to them?" I could tell he wanted to let it all out, and by the looks of the tears streaming down his face, he wanted to cry as well. After a moment of silence, he answered.  
  
"They died in a car crash. I couldn't believe it at first, when they pulled me out of school. They gave me the choice of either coming here, or being sent to... well somewhere, to become a servant. Obviously I chose here. I'm not a servant..." More tears began to fall as he pulled of the brown cabby hat and began to walk away. I didn't follow him. I didn't bother to ask who "they" were. I already knew. My mother died giving childbirth to my youngest brother. For two years, it was just me, him and my father. Two years ago, my brother went missing. We searched long and hard for him. But no results. Soon after, my father committed suicide. Losing both my brother and my mother in a two year span. I don't even know how I survived the pain. This social reform company came, and brought me here, to make a living by selling papers until I was 18- legally old enough to work in a factory like my father had. Lost in my own thoughts, I trudged back to the lodging house.  
  
Three weeks past, and Kid Blink and I had become the best of friends. We spent every moment of every day together, playing cards, talking, selling papers... and at the same time; the boy was working his way into the group. Even Racetrack had taken a liking to the kid. Every night though, we would sneak out of the lodging house, and walk down to that same park close by. We would sit, hour by the hour, talking about nothing in particular. Life, old boyfriends... and I cherished every moment of it. But one night was different. That day, I had noticed this hacking cough that arose and settled deep into his chest. I was worried for him, and sent him back with my word that I would sell all his papers for him.  
  
When I arrived, he was sound asleep, but sweating greatly. Feeling his forehead, I realized that he had a fever. At that exact moment, a sickening feeling welled up in my stomach. Not the feeling of nausea, but the feeling of knowing that the worst was still yet to come. Wrapping him in blankets, I stayed by his side, never leaving the top bunk. As the afternoon turned to evening, and evening to night, I kept feeling his forehead every hour. His heart wrenching cough died down, his breathing slowed, and his fever seemed to go away. Retreating back to my bed, I slowly drifted off to sleep.   
  
In the middle of the night, I awoke quickly, feeling that something wasn't right. A hacking cough to my left made me realize that indeed, something wasn't right. I jumped out of bed and hurried quickly over to Kid Blink's bed, pulling myself on top of it. His eyes were open, his breath was quickening by the second. Placing my hand on his head, I yelped and drew back quickly. I felt my own heart beating fast inside my chest, like an animal locked inside a small cage, trying to escape...   
  
"HELP! SOMEONE GET SOME HELP! HE'S BURNING UP! KID BLINK IS SICK! GET THE DOCTOR!" Pulling the thick wool blankets from his body, I grabbed the nightshirt and thin cotton pants he was wearing and ripped them both off his body, leaving him naked and exposed. Someone had brought a bowl of cold water from the pump. I was thankful for that. Tearing a large strip out of his nightshirt, I dipped it in the water, and began applying it to his body, trying to cool the rising fever. Just as I was finishing the small bowl, a strong hand pulled me down from the bed, pushing me away. A doctor was here. I was thankful for that. Tears and dizziness welled up in me as I collapsed into a heap on the floor, un-able to take anymore of the pressure. My last thoughts were that of Kid Blink.  
  
Some time later, I awoke in my bunk, the morning sun light shinning through the window. I snapped my head sideway to see if Blink was all right. To my horror, The bed was made already, which could have been a good or bad sign. Wriggling out of the sheets, I took off my night gear, and instead, pulled on a pair of dark pants and a light top. Hurrying down the steps, I was met face to face with Kid Blink, who was alive and well. He looked at me slightly strangely, took my hand, and pulled me out into the street.  
  
"Blink! You're all right than." There was no stopping the rush of happiness bubbling up inside me. He nodded and looked me in the eye. There was a glint of happiness in his own eyes, and for that, I was glad. Everything was going to be all right.  
  
"Of course. It was the 12-hour flu. The doctor was able to bring the fever down in time. Can... Can I talk to you about something... private?" His smile faded slightly as he looked nervously around. I nodded. " Mush... I..." He took a deep breath before biting his lip in frustration. "I think I like you, which is probably really weird, because guys don't usually like guys." His eyes caught the large smile on my face and relaxed. Arms outstretched, I wrapped them tightly around his body, holding him as my own. For the first time, I felt... peaceful.  
  
Untangling one free hand from his body, I tilted his chin downwards, and for the first time, I felt his own soft lips brush my own. I was in love with Kid Blink, and I didn't care who knew it. And by the way he leaned into me, nearly knocking us both over, it seemed as though he didn't care either. 


End file.
